Noah Emmerich on Directing an Episode of The Americans

The actor talks about his new job on the spy show, Stan's fate, and wigs.

The third season of The Americans, currently airing Wednesdays on FX, has been tumultuous and explosive, grappling with the implications of what it means to be both a Soviet spy during the Cold War and a parent. Tomorrow night's game-shifting episode was directed by cast member Noah Emmerich, who plays FBI agent Stan Beeman, and it sets the wheels in motion for big action in the season's second half. Emmerich, whose character has not been having a great time this season personally or professionally, has been waiting to take over behind the camera since he was initially cast on the show, and the episode represents his professional directing debut. We spoke with Emmerich about directing himself along with stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, his hopes for Stan, and why it continues to be weird that The Americans isn't the biggest show on cable.

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How did it come about that you would direct an episode of the show?

I was interested in it from the very beginning. I actually went to our producers in the first season and said, "If we're lucky enough to run, I'd love to get a crack at directing if possible. What do I need to do to make that happen?" They were receptive to the idea and said I could get involved and start following around some directors and come to production meetings. Start to see what goes into that job. That's what I did. I shadowed a few directors during the first season and continued that process throughout the second season. I got an education about what goes into making a television show and at the end of last season they said, "Okay, we think you're ready and you can do one next season."

Had you directed anything before?

I had. Never professionally, but I went to NYU's film school for a while and made some short films. I've directed a lot of theater. It's something I've always had an interest in doing and had been doing more on the side. It was always one of the alluring things to me about doing a television show. It was a really interesting possibility because I have a lot of days off where I'm not acting. Why not take those days and use them to expand?

What's the biggest challenge in directing The Americans specifically?

Shooting period is difficult. And shooting period in New York City for Washington, DC, is even more difficult. And shooting an hour drama in seven days is a very tight schedule. The biggest challenge, in many ways, is time. I guess that's always true—one of the laws of the universe is no matter how much time you have, it's never enough. We really are cut down to the bone. If you think about how much time it takes to shoot a feature, that can take months. And we shoot 44 minutes in a week. That was my biggest anxiety. There's very little room for error or mistakes.

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How was it directing yourself as an actor?

I'm a nightmare! I could not believe how difficult I was. I'm a complete diva. I couldn't get myself out of my trailer for the first morning.

I've always wondered how an actor can also be the director for a scene. Did you give yourself notes?

The funny thing is that it's just official now. Actors always direct themselves. A good actor shows up onset ready, especially in television, and you've done your homework and you know your character. The director may have some variation on what you're thinking or they may have a different interpretation of the scene. So you come prepared to shoot and you've given yourself notes. In television, it may be the first time you're meeting this director and you've been living in this character's skin for a couple of years. It's always great to have fresh perspective and fresh insight, but no one knows your character better than you do. It wasn't that big of a leap to, in some ways, have no director. There is no standard, really. We also have a really strong cast. So all the work that makes me look good has nothing to do with me.

"He's about to bounce back strong and hard—that's my hope for Stan."

Speaking of your character, how do you think Stan is doing right now?

Oh my God! Not so great. He's pretty much losing everything in his life. His extracurricular life is in a Russian prison, his wife is leaving him, his son won't talk to him. What more can go wrong? It's tough. But hopefully it's the nadir of Stan's troubles. He's about to bounce back strong and hard—that's my hope for Stan. I think he never really recovered from his years undercover. I think that was a really destructive time for him with his family and with himself and with his identity in the world. He came to Washington hoping for a fresh start. And it ended up being anything but that. He's trying to find his footing.

In the upcoming episode, there's something of a shakeup in the FBI. What implications will that have for the rest of the season?

I don't want to spoil anything, but it's a pretty seismic event for the FBI. It's the explosion of a [metaphorical] bomb we planted many, many, many episodes ago. The repercussions of it will be profound and long-lasting. What they will be is hard to say, but it definitely will have impact.

Have learned much counterintelligence lingo to play an FBI agent? Or do you find yourself saying something with purpose and not knowing what it really means?

You really want to know what you're saying means! For me—and maybe other people have other abilities—if I don't know what I'm saying I can't really say it with purpose. You do end up getting quite an education about counterintelligence work and the vernacular and the idiosyncratic nature of the FBI. There's lots that's been written about that period of the '80s and we have some consultants on the show. And we have great writers. They lead us to understanding very elegantly. The stories can be quite convoluted and complex, but they all are very truthful and logical. That's another part of the fun challenge of being an actor—you learn about worlds very foreign from your own.

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It must also be a history lesson, of sorts.

It is indeed a history. It's really fascinating. I was alive and very young at the time, and in an odd way I'm revisiting my own childhood with an understanding of what's going on politically and culturally. I remember as a kid being afraid of the Soviet Union and being afraid of nuclear war. They were the evil empire. That's what our president told us. And it felt very real and very scary, although very far away. Nuclear war was an active threat we lived under throughout the '80s. It's actually interesting to come back, fictionally, and reexamine that reality as a character in the FBI.

It's like a catharsis where you get to fight off your childhood bad guys.

Exactly! Who needs therapy? Just become an actor.

Now that you've been behind the camera, do you feel like you have any insight into Elizabeth and Philip's relationship? There's a very intimate scene between then in this episode.

I love that scene. I do think they love each other. I think it's complicated and complex, as all love is, and I do think there's real love there. There's got to be. It's too sad to imagine that there's not.

Everyone who watches The Americans is obsessed with it, yet the show struggles in the ratings. Why isn't this the most popular show on TV?

I'm not great at sales and I have real trouble selling stuff that I'm actually in because it feels disingenuous to some degree. But my friends actually watch it and really love it. I have yet to meet someone who watches the show and doesn't love it. It's not escapist. It is challenging material and it is rewarding material to participate in, but it's not fantasy escapism. Sometimes people want to turn the TV on and turn their brains off. And this show doesn't really let you do that. I think that makes it more of a thoroughly rich experience and interesting experience. It's not junk food.

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Plus, you have so many good wigs.

Plus we have wigs! Just sell us from the wig point of view: If you love wigs, you're going to love The Americans.

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